Greg Hinz On Politics

Should affordable housing plan have died in Streeterville?

It's not often that anyone proposes to develop affordable housing in Streeterville, the tony Near North Side neighborhood that serves as the heart of the expanded Gold Coast.

That's why I have to express some regret, and, frankly, scratch my head, over the demise of an 11-story building that was to go up at 410 E. Grand Ave. as part of a larger project.

It's tempting to blame local Alderman Brendan Reilly (42nd) and Streeterville residents for turning up their collective noses, given that all kinds of studies have shown Chicago has a severe shortage of housing for working-class folks.

But though that may be a piece of what occurred, I'm reasonably convinced that this proposal had some problems and that objections to it were based on valid concerns. Too bad.

At issue were plans recently announced by Golub Real Estate to build two residential structures on what now is a parking lot: a 45-story, 490-unit market-rate tower — in Streeterville, "market rate" means upscale — and an adjacent building with 200 or so units, all of them to be filled with people making well under the metropolitan area average income.

Officials at Golub, who didn't return several phone calls from me, argued at a recent public hearing that the affordable building would be home to nurses, medical technicians and others who work at nearby hospitals but can't afford to live in the area.

So, as the alderman wrote in his weekly email to constituents, Golub now has submitted a revised proposal, which dumps the affordable housing in favor of a commercial-medical office building.

I wasn't at the public hearing, so it's hard to judge exactly how much not-in-my-back-yard sentiment was expressed.

But Mr. Reilly underlines that Golub would have farmed out management of the affordable building to a second company, one that has drawn a fair number of complaints about its operations in Uptown.

The buildings would have had different recreational and other amenities, he says, and the affordable tower would not have had any onsite security.

All of this perhaps could have been resolved if Golub had spread the affordable units around the bigger tower, rather than "segregating" them in a separate structure, he says. The neighborhood would have accepted an affordable component in the luxury tower.

But Golub refused to do that, Mr. Reilly adds. "They said mixing the units would disrupt their financing."

I can't confirm that. Like I said, company officials failed to return several phone calls. But I can confirm that affordable housing in this town seems to go down a lot easier when it's spread around, rather than clumped together Chicago Housing Authority-style.

Still, the need remains. Mr. Reilly says a good half-dozen buildings in the area have at least some affordable component, with the old YMCA hotel at Chicago and Dearborn and 401 E. Ontario being primarily affordable.

There should have been some way to have worked this out. As Chicago's entire inner core continues to thrive, the people who work and provide services to employers there need some options that don't include a long commute.